Flexible organic light-emitting display apparatus and method of manufacturing the same

Abstract

In one aspect, a flexible organic light-emitting display apparatus including a substrate; a display device formed on a first surface of the substrate; a thin film encapsulation layer covering the display device; and a protection film generally surrounding the substrate, the display device, and the thin film encapsulation layer, and a method of manufacturing the flexible organic light-emitting display apparatus is provided.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A flexible organic light-emitting display apparatus comprising:
 a substrate including a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface; 
 a display device on the first surface of the substrate and comprising a plurality of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs); 
 a thin film encapsulation layer including at least an organic film and at least an inorganic film and covering the display device, an end portion of the thin film encapsulation layer extends beyond an end of the display device and partially covers an area of the first surface of the substrate on which the display device is not disposed; 
 a first protection film arranged to directly contact the thin film encapsulation layer and generally covering each exposed surface of the substrate and the thin film encapsulation layer; and 
 a second protection film on the second surface of the substrate. 
 
     
     
       2. The flexible organic light-emitting display apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the first protection film comprises one or more components selected from the group consisting of a silicon (Si) material, an acryl-based resin material, and a urethane-based resin material. 
     
     
       3. The flexible organic light-emitting display apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the first protection film comprises one or more components consisting of a silicon (Si) material, the silicon (Si) material comprises a silica-based material, a polysilazane-based material, and a siloxane-based material. 
     
     
       4. The flexible organic light-emitting display apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein a maximum thickness of the first protection film is 400 μm. 
     
     
       5. The flexible organic light-emitting display apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the first protection film covers a first surface of the thin film encapsulation layer and side surfaces of the thin film encapsulation layer and the substrate, and the second protection film covers the second surface of the substrate. 
     
     
       6. The flexible organic light-emitting display apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein each of the first and second protection films comprises a flexible film. 
     
     
       7. The flexible organic light-emitting display apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the thin film encapsulation layer comprises inorganic films and organic films that are alternately stacked. 
     
     
       8. The flexible organic light-emitting display apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising an optical film disposed on a first surface of the first protection film. 
     
     
       9. A flexible organic light-emitting display apparatus comprising:
 a flexible substrate including a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface; 
 a pixel electrode disposed on the first surface of the flexible substrate; 
 a counter electrode disposed on the pixel electrode; 
 an organic emission layer disposed between the pixel electrode and the counter electrode and emitting light; 
 a thin film encapsulation layer disposed on the counter electrode and including at least an organic film and at least an inorganic film, an end portion of the thin film encapsulation layer extends beyond an end of the counter electrode and partially covers an area of the substrate on which the counter electrode is not disposed; 
 a first protection film arranged to directly contact the thin film encapsulation layer and generally covering each exposed surface of the flexible substrate-and the thin film encapsulation layer; and 
 a second protection film on the second surface of the substrate. 
 
     
     
       10. The flexible organic light-emitting display apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the first protection film comprises one or more components selected from the group consisting of a silica-based material, a polysilazane-based material, a siloxane-based material, an acryl-based resin material, and a urethane-based resin material. 
     
     
       11. The flexible organic light-emitting display apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the first protection film covers a first surface of the thin film encapsulation layer and side surfaces of the thin film encapsulation layer and the flexible substrate, and the second protection film covers the second surface of the flexible substrate and comprises a material different from the first protection film.